GREEN BAY – The Giants weren’t surprised to learn last night’s NFC Championship game was the third-coldest contest in NFL history.

“It felt like it, that’s for sure,” wide receiver Amani Toomer said. “It was the coldest game I’ve ever played in, and I can honestly say, I don’t know how we did it. It was brutal.”

Lambeau Field was an arctic minus-1 degree with a wind chill that made it feel like minus-23 degrees at kickoff, marking the coldest here since the famous Packers-Cowboys Ice Bowl in 1967 (minus-13; minus-46 wind chill).

The 1981 AFC title game between the Chargers and Bengals (minus-9; minus-59 wind chill) remains the second coldest NFL game on record, but you would had trouble convincing the Giants that last night’s game felt any warmer.

“When you’re out there on the field, it’s hot,” said guard Chris Snee, who along with his offensive-line mates went sleeveless throughout. “But once you got back to the sideline, your fingers started to ache and you really felt it. It was miserable.”

The horrific conditions felt even worse for the Giants because the heated benches on their sideline gave out completely for a moment in the first quarter and warmed up only slightly as the game went on.

Toomer said the heated benches were so useless he and his teammates didn’t even bother with them in the second half.

“I just stayed by the heater, because those benches didn’t work for nothing,” Toomer said. “I just thank God that it wasn’t wet, because that would have been dangerous.”

The frigid weather, unusual even for Green Bay, was especially difficult for the Giants’ kickers. Lawrence Tynes missed two field goals before his overtime winner, one of them badly, and Jeff Feagles shanked a 21-yard punt in the first quarter.

“The ball was hard as a rock and just didn’t go anywhere,” Feagles said. “It was a nightmare for the kickers.”